Thursday 12 January 2012

++ Ieuan Wyn Jones eagerly "reluctantly" supports postponement of Ynys Môn local elections ++

As was obvious following his side-stepping of the issue last month, Ynys Môn AM Ieuan Wyn Jones has today written to Welsh Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant to say he "eagerly reluctantly" supports the postponement of Anglesey's local elections to 2013. By throwing his support behind Labour in the Senedd, this means that Ynys Môn residents will almost certainly be denied the opportunity to vote in local elections this May with the rest of Wales. Both the Welsh Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have joined forces to oppose any postponement — with Plaid Cymru's support Labour would not have been able to force a postponement.

This means that if you...

  • object to the performance of your local county councillor
  • object to Ynys Môn setting a 5% council tax rise (most likely the largest council tax hike in Wales and big enough to trigger a local referendum in England)
  • object to not having a say in where the £4.3 million savings Ynys Môn has to find in local services fall
  • object to Anglesey council's plans to introduce monthly bin collections
  • object to the huge increase in applications to erect industrial-size Wind Turbines all over the Island
  • object to other flawed faux-"renewable" schemes like the Peboc Biomass plant which will import wood all the way from Nova Scotia to burn in Llangefni (apparently to "cut" carbon emissions!)
  • simply want to exercise your democratic right to vote at the same time as everyone else in Wales

...then thanks to Ieuan Wyn Jones you will no longer have the opportunity to have your voice heard at the Ballot box until 2013. By which time it will be too late.

It is also worth noting that in supporting the postponement of Ynys Môn's local elections, Ieuan Wyn Jones is going against:

  • His own Plaid Cymru councillors on Ynys Môn council, who, out of principle, have explicitly opposed the postponement
  • The former Plaid Cymru National Chair, John Dixon, who has said that the new electoral system on Ynys Môn is tantamount to "rigging the system"
  • Every single town and community council on Ynys Môn, apart from Labour-controlled Holyhead Town council
  • The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), including its Plaid Cymru members
  • All Independent councillors on Ynys Môn council
  • At least two of the five Labour councillors on Ynys Môn council
  • The Welsh Conservative Party
  • The Welsh Liberal Democrats

So why is Ieuan Wyn Jones supporting it? Because...

(a) he knows Plaid Cymru will probably gain the most new councillors through the new exclusively multi-member ward system being proposed for Ynys Môn; and 

(b) because he also knows the reduction down to 30 councillors will make Ynys Môn Council non-functional and is a precursor to rolling it up into a "Greater" Gwynedd council — thus creating a permanently Plaid Cymru controlled mega-council.

Mr Wyn Jones has in my view put narrow party political interests ahead of the interests of the people he represents.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good old Ieuan, making sure the interest of Plaid Cymru and his silly army of followers come first.

The reality is that the majority have had enough of our Island being treated like a pawn in a silly little game between the unwanted politicians of Wales. The people suffer, but the Politicians get richer at our expense.

Ieuan has authorised at the highest level the right of this failed Council to carry on, regardless.

Anonymous said...

Tell me druid.
If the Welsh Gov did go ahead with merging Ynys Mon - would it be subject to a referendum / could we force a referendum???

How do these things work nowadays!?

kp said...

Good old IWJ, the best politician we have had on this island since the days of Keith Best. And well done to the commissioners for standing up to all those twits on this council that like to call themselves 'independents'. Toothless, gutless, self serving monstrosities is more like it!

Sorry Druid, but once again I feel you are out of touch with many of those who should be your most natural of supporters.

Finally, on the subject of a 'Greater Gwynedd', I hope this will be replaced by a greater Menai council. A much more sensible option.

An Eye On... said...

It's not thanks to Ieuan Wynn-Greyman at all that there will be no election. It's thanks to dirty, corrupt greasy, criminal grasping scum who will not step down and the spineless gutless ones who knew what was going on and said nothing publicly.

That's who it's thanks to and don't dress it any other way.

Anmd to be frank, until those people stand aside I sincerely hope we never see hide nor hair of a ballot box and the commissioners stay put

mairede thomas said...

A very sad day indeed. The island will be a windfarm before we get our democracy and our votes back. And there will be less people to vote as well as many jobs will have been destroyed. History will not look kindly on this.

Know it all said...

Toothless,gutless,self serving monstrosity.

Oh KP, I wish you wouldn't keep giving us you personal profile all the time, it's all so boring.

Anonymous said...

KP.........a bag of nuts !